Flying machine



Jan. 31, 1928.

G. FERGUSON FLYING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 6, 1908 4 Sheets-Sheet l j [we/ab)" ae'agejgw Jan. 31, 1928.

G. FERGUSON FLYING MACHINE 4 shts-sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. e, 1908 Jan. 31, 1928. 1,657,669

, G. FERGUSON FLYING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 6, 1908 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 31, 1928. 1,657,669

G. FERGUSON FLYING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 6, 1908 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 kagrik/g w 'fzzak/zzbr .Mmws

Patented Jan. 31, 1928.

UNITED PAT orrrca ononen rnneuson, OF'LOS'ANGELES; CALIFORNIA.

Boiled for abandoned application Serial-NOI 447,196, filed Ailg'u'st 6; 1908i 1a; 1924. Serial no; 744,613.

This specification is refiledfor abandoned application filedAug-ust 6, 1908 Serial Number 447,196, of which this is a substantial du licate.

5 This invention relates particularly to a novel device adapted for flying machines, wind mills, propellers, etc, in which the operating principle of" a birds wing is adoptedand carried 'out' mechanically to such an extent as to'enable the supp'ortand flight o'fthe' frameof'a flyin machine, or the p'ropulsion of wind mills, I ropellers", etcL, equipped with my improved orin of device.

A basic object of this invention is'to pro- 15 vide a novel form of device that will automaticallyadju'st itself to the varying conditions of the revailing winds, and mechanism is providedwhereby the operator is enabled to control the force exerted upon the Wings or blades so asjto operate and direct the device in any desired" direction, position or movement of the device, such as'soaring, hovering etc.

Heretofore supporting wings of this" character have been made with a rigid construction, or at least as rigid as the large'a'nd light construction would allow The present wing differs radically from the above style of Wing by being provided with apivotal so adjustment'of its main longitudinal frame which acts similarlyto the pivotal adjustment of a birds wing; and it also is provided with 1 adjustable resilient means for holding the wind surface oft'he wing against the wind. v y s This construction isfembodiedin the'device shown in the accompanying drawings and, although a lar erpart of the invention resides in any one ofthef wings, enough 4 mechanism isshownand will be'described -to set forth a clear idea of thecojistructi'on and operation of a comple e machine.

In the accompanyingldrawing's' formin a part of this specification: k

Figure 1 is a plan view ofa-machine embodying the principles'ofniy inventions;

Figure 2 is a side elevation]of'the'f same with parts broken away for clarity'of illustration;

Fignre 3'is a sectional elevation takenj on line3 3of Figure 2 Figure 4 is a detail r hbw 'ngitheg ari in pi the propellin motor;

items 5 is alien arg'ed detail plan View 'atthis point:

sh owingthe base mechanism of the upper Wings;

Figure 6 is an end elevation of the same; Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the joint between one of the longitudinal wing frames and a transverse wing frame; Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 8-"8 ofFigure" 5;

Figure 9 is a plan view showing the base mechanism of the lower or propelling wings; Figure 10 is a plan View of thesteering mailer;

Figure 11 is a side elevation ofthe' same and its operatingpart's. i

In the drawings, designate'sthemain longitudinal frame of theflying machine, a. plurality of supporting standards 21.depend ing from'the frame and supportingthe lower mechanisms and platforms. Platform 22 supported at the lower ends of standards 21 is preferably formedof atubing frame 23 preferably provided with a' Wire" netting floor 24:, This platform supports motor 25 and affords room for the operators of the machine.

hfou'n'ted upon fi-anie20 intlie manner il lu'strated in detail in Figure 5 is plurality ofsupportingwings 26. The frame ma be of any desired length and any number of these supporting wings placed along it.

\Vings 2 6 are constructed with a longitudinal frame27 which isturned at right angles to its innerend to'forin a lever 28 by Ine'an'so'f which theadjust'ment 'offthe wing is accomplishedthrough the medium of the" adjusting mechanisms to be hereinafte'rfexplained.

The longitudinal fra'me27 isflattened as at'29 at apoint close to'its inner end, a cross section at this point heingillustrated in Figure 85' so tha't a" lateral resiliency is added Further out" towards its outer end the" frame isjni-ade into a' curved cross Section, asfis' indicated in" Figure"7, so that additional strength is imparted Mounted on frame ZOis a numb'e'r ofwing supporti gjframes 30', onefor"e'ach pair" of wings. These frames" are made a general U' shape, asillustrated in Figure 6, and Wingsiippor'ti'ngshaftsBl pass through bearin s 32 supported at their upper ends; Shaf s31 rojeet outwardly and win frames 27 are pivqtally' niiiii1 ed 01'1 as: hafts illus trated iiji Figure 5;; collars aali olclii'i fi the Wing-frames in place; The; er than gether, so that they may all be adjusted simultaneously. To one of bolts 34 an operating rod 36 is connected,being secured at" its other end to a bell crank lever 37 pivoted at 38 to one of standards 21. A downwardly extending rod 39 is secured to one arm of the lever. The other arm of the lever is provided with an adjusting wheel 40 mounted between arms 40 on standard 21. By rotating wheel 40 the inclination of the longitudinal wing frames may be changed as desired v Pivotally mounted on each of the longitudinal wing frames as at 40. in Figure 7 is a plurality of transverse frames 4.]. constructed of any suitable material and extending transversely and rearwardly from the longitudinal frames. The transverse frames'are made of proper length to afford the desired configuration to the body portion or wind surface of the wing which is formed of any suitable fabric 42, stretched under the longitudinal and transverse frames. These. transverse frames may be A either curved in any'desired configuration or change 0 they may be straight as experience dictates.

vJ'ournaled at 43 on longitudinal frames 27 and extending overthe transverse frames are stirrups 4%. These stirrups are connected together by meansof a sectional shaft 45 with interposed spring connections 46. The innermost section of shaft 45 is preferably formed as a reduced extension of pivot shaft 31 which is provided on its inner end with a worm gear 46'. A. pair of longitudinal adjustingshafts 47 are in bearings 48 and extend along keel 20, being operated through the medium of sprocket wheels -19 and sprocketchains 50 passing downwardly and each connected to a hand wheel 51v mounted on one of standards 21" within accessible distances from platform 22' These shafts carry worms52lwhich mesh with and drive worm gears 46' sojthat upon an rotation of hand wheel 51 the resilient ad usting shafts will be turned on all the supporting wings alongside of keel 20. It isdesirable that the resilient pressure of stirrups 44 downwardly upon transverse frames 41 shall be independently adjustable'on' each side of the machine as the, guiding of the machine is, accomplished to a great extent by the inclination of the wing surfaces on eachside. It will be'seen'that by an appropriate'rotation of hand wheel 51 the wind surface of the wing may be forced further from the horizontal or it may be allowed to be blown backwardly and upwardly closer to the horizontal. Frame 20 is extended to any desired, length to support the desired number of wings'26. Upon its rear ends as 'shown'in Figures 1, 10 and 11, is mounted a. horizontal rudder 60. This rudder is proing wings 26 mounted in pairs upon 'tudinal operating shafts 7l'and 71; mounted vided with a pivotal shaft 01 extending longitudinally of the rudder, the shaft being mounted in bearings 62 on frame 20 of the ship. A transverse arm 63 is mounted on shaft 61 and steering cable 64: is attached to the ends of arm 63 and passes downwardly and over a pulley G5 rotated through the medium ofa hand wheel 66. By turnin hand wheel 66 rudder 60 may be inclined trai'isvers'ely to any desired degree.

In the operation of the parts of the machine so far described, the machine is placed head on to a wind and the inclination and resilient downward pressure of supporting wings 26 adjusted. When a correct ad- 'justmenthas been reached so that a large enough component of the wings horizontal movement and pressure has been thrown into the vertical direction, the machine will be raised off the ground. The weight of the machine below the starting wings is suiticient to balance it and prevent it from being overturned'by the wind. As long as a steady upright position is thus kept the maehine will be raised by the ,wings and when the desired-elevation has been reached the inclination and the resilient downward pressure of the wings is lessened. By this adjustment :1 larger proportion of pressure is thrown into the rearward component of the wings and the machine ceases its upward flight and immediately moves head into the wind. The action in this regard is similar in principle to the sailing of a boat into the wind, but a great improvement is made by the resilient construction of the wing and the resilient downward pressure of the wind surfaces. This resilient downward pressure provides for varying wind intensities and keeps the machine moving uniformly.- For guiding the machinein a horizontal plane the resilirudder maybe inclined inan appropriate direction to bring the machine back to its normal position.

To provide for times when there is not a suitable breeze or when it is desired to move in some other direction than into the wind I have provided a propelling ap aratus which is mounted on the frame of t e machine and whichwill propel the machine forwardly so that the above described operations of the supporting wings will take place. This propelling apparatus comprises a number of small propelling wings 70 of a construction similar, to that ofthe. supportengitill llhi

in bearings 72 on standards 21. These propelling wings are constructed with longitudinal frames 27 of a character similar to frames 27* of the supporting wings and with transverse frames 41 resiliently pressed downwardly through the medium of stirrups 44E, the frames being covered by the suitable fabric 42. Adjusting levers 28 of these wings on upper shaft 71* are connected together by means of a rod 73 and the levers of the lower wings are connected to those of the upper wings by rods 74 having resilient springs 75 interposed to allow of the heavy movement necessary between the sets of wings on the upper shaft and thoseon the lower shaft. One of the sets of wings on the lower shaft is adjusted directly from the bell crank lever 76 operated by a hand wheel mechanism 77, a spring connection 78 being interposed so that the wings may move with relation to the frame. Longitudinal frames 27 of these wings are pivoted directly on shafts which extend through shafts 71, collars 79 being provided to prevent any longitudinal movement of the wing frames on the shafts. land wheels 80 are mounted on shafts 45: and sprin detents 81 serve to hold the wheels and s afts 45 in any desired position. By this means any amount of torsion may be placed upon shafts 45 and the wind surfaces of the wings forced downwardly with any desired pressure.

Operating shafts 71 are provided with arms 90 which are connected by connecting rods 91 to cranks 92 mounted on shafts 93 geared to engine shaft 94. By means of the relative arrangement illustrated in Figure 3, it will be seen that the wings on one of the shafts 71 will be moving upwardly on one side while the wings on the other shaft are moving downwardly on the same side. Thus an alternate movement is provided in such a manner that there is always one set of wings moving downwardly on each side of the machine and the whole machine is thereby kept in equilibrium.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a flying machine which utilizes the bird principles of flying. \Vhen the machine is moving into the wind there is no need for any motor propelling device, the force of the wind moving the machine along. W'hen, however, it is desired to move with the wind or in a still atmosphere, the motor propelling apparatus is then utilized.

Although I have shown and described herein but one form of flying machine embodying my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Flying machine construction comprising a longitudinal wing frame mounted to be pivotally adjustable, a transverse wing frame pivotally mounted on the longitudinal frame and adjustable resilient means for changing the angle of incidence of said transverse frame and for holding said transverse frame in position.

2. A flying machine comprising a main frame, longitudinal wing frames pivotally mounted on the main frame, and extending transversely therefrom, transverse wing frames pivotally mounted on the longitudinal wing frames, and resilient means to adjust the position of the transverse frames, the adjusting means for all the wings on each side of the main frame being inter-connected.

GEORGE FERGUSON. 

